Why are we not bored of Mario?

[CantGetAWii]

I sat at my computer, pondering that question. People tell me Tomb Raider is old and boring and nothing new happens. Yeah well I was nearly peeing my pants when in Chronicles they introduced corner shimmying! Yes, I did find that amazing. I have always been a huge TR fan and every time Lara can do something basic and new, I wet myself.

People are starting to become uneasy with Grand Theft Auto and the fact that it could very well be the same as it's predecessors but just prettier. So you could say the same about any other series that repeats the same character in the basically same setting with a slight story line change.

Now before I get the onslaught of "OMFG U H8 MARIO!!11 u sux", I don't. I enjoy Mario. I like Mario games. I'm just potentially getting bored of them. I also understand that Mario will never really go further than what it really is. Miyamoto has made a game for all ages in mind. All ages usually means markets its self to the more casual of gamers, who want that 3-hit kill boss and want that basic "save the princess" story line. They want simplicity, fun and it to be short.

As gaming becomes more mainstream and gamers become more hardcore, can Mario still stand up in a sea of deep games with more than just mushrooms and stars to their look. Gaming is ultimately about fun, which Mario is. We all complain about games repeating the same thing. We all complain about franchises getting old. So ...
Why are we not complaining about Mario? I believe nearly every new platform Mario game after 64 has been called "a new take on Mario 64". Why? Because well ... it is. So don't tell me Miss Croft is getting boring and old when half the gaming population still gets off to the fact Mario 64 is coming out next year with a new bloody Mario 64. It's like Madden all over again (oh yeah I went there).

Not to say I am anti-Mario. Hell no! Even though I am a small fraction of people who didn't ween themselves off of Mario's teet into the glorious world of gaming, I sure as hell did play through a whole bunch of Mario titles. I enjoyed the ironically named New Super Mario Brothers with its slight change of gameplay and completely same outcome in recent years even though when I was a bit wee child, I played the same bloody thing on a SNES.

What are we to question innovative and intricate game design, when most of us all go on about how ****ing great Mario is (que Nintendo Fan boy fapping). Yes Mario was fun, Mario was original and Mario was a great childhood friend who taught us absolutely nothing about life but everything about using our imagination. So what's happened?

Absolutely nothing.

Mario is still the same guy we grew up with, reassuring to be honest, however why do we forgive Mario for not doing anything more than the same bloody thing over and over? In 2D, 3D, HD (??) he does it again -- Save that cock teasing princess from what? It's not like Bowser is really man enough to do anything relatively deviant or evil to Peach. I mean can you imagine playing Mario and you get to Bowser's castle to find him raping her brains out as she screams for Mario? No, that'll never happen. Will you ever really see an emotional and deep story line between a plumber and a princess? No.

Sure Mario is made for kids and adults alike. Kids however don't mind repetitive games. Actually kids tend to enjoy something repetitive. As adults however, we praise something that ultimately shows us nothing new year after year. We buy his clothes. We buy his mushrooms and we dance around the room in happy glee. It's "cool" to be a Mario fan. It's "cool" to play Mario games. To not like Mario makes you less of a gamer apparently.

Hey Mario? Continue with your spin off's of Parties and Smashing brothers from another mother. However, if your going to be a platform game and appeal to more gamers, try something different. But god damn you're fun ... I'm just growing out of you ... maybe?

I'll leave you with a quote from like-minded gamer Monir commenting on a review of Super Mario Galaxy.

"but is no one bored of Mario any more? it is exactly the same every time, the puzzles are all exactly the same, the bosses always die by 3 hits by doing a certain thing. Mario needs to die, quickly. I was disappointed with the new super Mario game on ds, it got stupidly high ratings from press and average people. the game was awful, I completed it within less than 3 hours, and I've only played 2 other Mario games in my life, but even then, I recognized that there was nothing new in any of the puzzles or enemies. the repetitiveness is annoying."

Has he got a point?

Source:
http://www.destructoid.com/why-are-we-not-bored-of-mario--62997.phtml

 

[AceAlabama]

I just died a little inside.

 

[TJgamer]

Lol, Corner shimmying was introduced in Revelation not chronicles:lol:

Any who....Lol @ this

I just died a little inside.

I dunno why games like mario party, super mario ect. haven't started to get too repetitive for me. In fact I really never thought it was kinda repetitive, I dunno maybe cause I just like certain kinds of games like that, and I don't mind playing similar games like it.
Then again that's just me.

 

[Samus101]

Lol, Corner shimmying was introduced in Revelation not chronicles:lol:

Any who....Lol @ this


I dunno why games like mario party, super mario ect. haven't started to get too repetitive for me. In fact I really never thought it was kinda repetitive, I dunno maybe cause I just like a certain kind of games like that, and I don't mind playing similar games like it.
Then again that's just me.

Me too.

 

[Lastking23]

o.o how about halo though? it was the same **** all over again for each one and "adults" bought it, went freaking crazy for it. >.> they barely improved it, but if they kept making sequels for it people would still wet themselves and get it.

 

[wezeles]

Dont be hatin...

it is wierd no doubt... all the mario titled games or games that star a mario character.... no other game character has even came close... he makes an apperance in over 200 games as of now, and hes a 1st party game character !!!, he's only been on one brand console.
and doesnt seem to be leaving anytime soon... his games usually range from a 7-10 but very few are considered "bad" by any review... maybe considered the same old same old but never stragith out called garbage...

most mario games are thought through and more than 6 months are spent on each one so they never turn out to be the cheep reprocessed junk we are so use to sequal games being...

But bored... never maybe if he didnt have more than a few style games.. if it was all SMB SMB2 SMB3 ect. ect. ect.. maybe but there are all the different sports,party,paper,kart,smash brothers... you just cant get sick of him cause every ware you look hes doing something different...

there might always be a Mario game like SMB 1,2,3 SMworld, SM64,Mario sunshine, and now Mario Galaxy... but honestly its only been one main title game since SNES... after that its different types of game with him co-staring in them...

Hes the top dog.. the Elvis Presley of video games... he might not fit in with the times as much anymore, but people still love him and no one will ever top him... aslong as a game is made with his name on it it will be bought by the truckloads...
and the fact is he can do whatever he wants "it is a game they can program whatever they like" but he sells so well doing what hes great at why change it?
If he had to have a Halo type game to sell he'd still be the most badass plumber with a gun you saw..lol

As gaming becomes more mainstream its not going to make games more hardcore... if anything the hardcore group will get smaller and more elite, while the mainstream turns back to what it use to be... and thats games like Mario

If anything with nintendos new grasp on the gaming market expect to see alot more Mario, they are still some of the highest selling games in the world... so they got that going for them... i do believe Galaxy acctually was the highest world wide sale since launch wasnt it?

but ya your right everyone seems bored....

 

[SantaClaws]

OMFG U H8 MARIO!!11 u sux

 

[wezeles]

hes just a kid that never could save the princess in SMB... and no matter how many times you showed him he couldnt figure out how to get the crown by jumping on the koopa.... all the years of built up anger and feelings of not being good enough... he had to let it out sometime... lol

 

[Sketch Turner]

I havnt played a new Mario that I liked in a decade.
SMG was alright I guess.

 

[RedProdigy]

Why do people generally not get bored with Mario platformers? It's so simple that the author should only ask it as a rhetorical: Miyamoto is a creative genius that can make each game feel like a different experience. Also, it helps that there have been only 2-3 Mario games in the last decade.

But I think it's hilarious that somehow a "deep story" makes Mario from a "same old" game to a "hardcore" game. Basically, this article is stating "I grew up and so should Mario" which is shallow and selfish. Mario will NEVER lend itself to be a "mature" game. Mario platformers will NEVER rely on storytelling. Get over it. It's like if you played Super Mario 64, you played Galaxy. They have distinct styles of gameplay. Why do the "mature" gamers always talk about Mario "needing deep storylines"?

Lastly, the writer sounds like he didn't play Super Mario Galaxy at all.

 

[AoWFraggit]

mario make me so horny.

 

[T3kNi9e]

Mario is still the same guy we grew up with, reassuring to be honest, however why do we forgive Mario for not doing anything more than the same bloody thing over and over? In 2D, 3D, HD (??) he does it again -- Save that cock teasing princess from what? It's not like Bowser is really man enough to do anything relatively deviant or evil to Peach. I mean can you imagine playing Mario and you get to Bowser's castle to find him raping her brains out as she screams for Mario? No, that'll never happen. Will you ever really see an emotional and deep story line between a plumber and a princess? No.

HAHAHAHAHA

Anyway, I completely agree with this article. Its like "WOW" its kind of nice to see someone else think it and say it out loud. I think this is why I personally didnt find SMG to be Wii's best game and certainly not GOTY. It was somewhat entertaining but that was it. I played Super Mario Bros. when I was 4 , back in 92' Super Mario World/Super Mario All-Stars were good/new. Then Mario 64, then after that it really wasn't anything new except for in SMG it has planets. But it was essentially the same game but prettier.

 

[laderer5]

We are not bored of mario because he has so many jobs...

 

[Abes16]

^excatly

 

[Dkw0101]

the thing is, it's interesting to see mario do atleast 1 new thing like in galaxy, what did he do new, he spun and made me sick with his gravity changes, in sunshine he had fludd, in 64, it was 3d. mario always brings something new, thats why it never dies.